Hypodescent

A brief look into the historic, modern, and

potential future explanations.

Group 4
Definition: ‘

The “one-drop rule” is a colloquial expression, a phrase which reflects

the belief that a person bearing a trace of African ancestry (literally, a
single drop of black or Negro “blood”) is black.’
(SCOTT LEON WASHINGTON, 2011)

‘...Multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most socially

subordinate group membership’
(Kirsch, 2013)
Historic Hypodescent and the Creation
of Race

‘‘…before the eighteenth century physical

differences among peoples were so rarely
referred to as a matter of great importance that
something of a case can be made for the
proposition that race consciousness is largely a
modern phenomenon.’

- Gossett (1997)
Racial categories, pre-British colonies
Scientific Racism

● Race established with

terms we know today by

British colonies

● Othering - us vs. them

● Racism weaved into

science
State discrimination

● Mixed race people treated

badly

● Justified by law

● Emphasis on blood,

parentage and lineage

Hypodescent
Racial Integrity Act of 1924

Walter Plecker

Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America

Racial Integrity Act

Pocahontas Exception
Modern Hypodescent Studies

Political Views

Learning Theory

Exodescent

One of us
Bi-Racial Standpoint;

st
Still, in the 21 Century, there is a large sense of
superiority in race with black individuals, regrettably at the
bottom of the social ladder.1

One critical way to gain insight into hypodescent as a

whole is to analyse the perspectives of people who are bi
racial.2
Case Study of Barack Obama;

Barack Obama is a notable example of hypodescent in

practice. 1

This, evidently, displays the presence of hypodescent

in the modern day.2
Conclusion

Has anything really changed?

Is it just more covert?

 Bibliography
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·
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